Lewis wilkinson



L. WILKINSON. Sad-Iron Heater.

o. 110,708. I v Paten ted Jan. 3, 1871.

MPETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON u c LEWIs'WILKI-Nso1v, on NEWYORK,- N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 110,708, dated January 3; 1871.

IMPROVEMENT-IN SAD- Ron HEATERS;

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

I, LEWIS WILKINSON, of the city, county, and State of New York, havinvented certain new and useful improvements in Smoothing-Irons; and inorder that others may understand the nature of my invention, its uses,andanethod of construction, I give the follow,- ing'description of thesame, illustrated by the accompanying drawing, which is referred to byletters andfigures marked thereon, the same forming a part of thisspecification. 1

The object of my invention is to furnish a smoothingiron for-the use ofthose who, not always having a stove or other fire at command, can, byplacing the iron upon an ordinary gas-burner, heat it thoroughly andsutficiently for all the purposes for which such a utensil isapplicable, without the necessity of a coal or wood fire, or of thespecial and expensive gas-heating stove or apparatus such asis'in'enerall y used.

Description of Drawing.

Figure 1 represents, in perspective, (of ful1sizc,) one of my improvedsmoothing-irons, suitable for pressing hats, or small articles which arebetter smoothed by an iron of small dimensions,

A A is the body of the iron. This is made hollow by casting upon a core,having sufficient solid," metal on all sides to retain the heat, say ina smalliron about one-half an inch in thickness, the hollow inconforming nearly to its external shape.

B is a handle, made either by casting a shank with the body of the iron,or.by inserting a wrought-iron shank in the mold, and casting thebodyofthe smootln ing-iron upon it. Y v

O is a tip of wood or other like non-conducting material, for theconvenience of using without burning the hand, this latter beingfastened to the iron shank.

In the rear part of the body of the iron is an open,- ing, D, so formedthat while the central portion of it will slip a little way onto anordinary gas-burner, (suificiently so as to permit its end or tip to bejust within the hollow, and to support; the iron in an upright positionwhile being heated,) there will be left on each side of the burner anorifice of nearly the size of the central one, these two openings beingfor the purpose of a free admission of atmospheric air. to the base ofthe gas flame, to support combustion within the hollow of the iron.

E is another orifice, placed just in front'of the handle near the pointor toe of the iron, communicating with. the cored portion thereof, theobject of which is to carry oft the products of combustion within,acting as a chimney.

the iron F is agas-burner, shown as being thrust into and supporting theiron while heating.

G is a short-portion .of the bracket or gas-pipe, the object of. theselatter pieces in-thc drawing being to show the positionof the iron onthe burner.

I do not confine myself to the exact form of the smoothing-iron that isshown in the drawing, as the shape may be varied to suit the difi'erentkinds of work to which it is desirable to apply it. Neither do I confinemyself to the exact form or positions of' the several openings.- Forinstance those each side of the burner may be oblong or oval, or theymay be round and sit a little way from that which receives the burn or,and the orifice near the toe of the iron may be of any other convenientor ornamental shape that is desired, or itmay be placed immediately onthe toe instead ofthe upper side of the iron; but those which I havegiven are such as I have found convenient and efficient in practice.

I am aware that gas has been used for heating smoothing-irons by meansof apparatus specially constructed,'upon which an ordinary iron isplaced, and also that a gas-burner, attached to a flexible tube, hasbeen used in connection with a smoothing-iron, the handle of the samebeing hollow and forming a chimney; but in this tliecontraction is veryimperfect, the

motion circumscribed by the tnbe,.and the motion of the iron frequentlyextinguishing the flame, and the heat also constantly passing out of theiron, making it disagreeable in use.

My invention is free from these objections,'and so simple that personsof the plaincst capacity can use it, while the position in. which theiron is placed upon the burner isthe best for insuring perfectcombustion and the efiicient heating of the iron.

--I do not claim, broadly, the heating of a smoothing iron with agas-flame, neither do Iclaim, broadly, a hollow smoothing-iron, noranything shown in G. B.'Mc- Olainspatent of April 21, 1857; but

As an article of manufacture the. small, light, hollow smoothing-iron,constructed as shown and described, and adapted to be sustained whilebeing heated by the bracket of an ordinary gas'burner, ,allsubstantially as herein set forth.

LEWIS WILKINSON.

W itnesscs J. W. TAYLOR, \VM. PRATT.

an cam.

